Charles Culling Smith

He was the son of Charles Smith, Governor of Madras, and nephew of Sir Culling Smith, 1st Baronet.[3]

On 2 August 1799 he married Lady Anne Fitzroy (13 March 1768[4] – 16 December 1844), widow of the Hon. Henry Fitzroy (13 September 1765 – 19 March 1794; fourth son of Charles Fitzroy, 1st Baron Southampton) and only daughter of Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington.[5] By this marriage he gained two stepdaughters:

• Anne Caroline Fitzroy, died 16 December 1835
• Georgiana Frederica Fitzroy (3 October 1792 – 11 May 1821), married 25 July 1814 Henry Somerset, Marquess of Worcester, with two daughters.[6]

His marriage to Lady Anne produced a further two children, a daughter and a son:

• Emily Frances Smith (3 March 1800 – 2 October 1889), married 29 June 1822 her half-sister's widower Lord Worcester, who succeeded his father as 7th Duke of Beaufort in 1835. They had one son and six daughters.[6]
• Frederick William Culling Smith (c. 1802 - died 19 June 1828), a godson of the Duke of York.[7] He was made a Page of Honour on 13 March 1812[8] and commissioned as a cornet in the 2nd Dragoon Guards on 22 April 1819.[9] He transferred into the Coldstream Guards as an ensign on 18 January 1820[7] and reached the rank of lieutenant in that regiment before promotion to the Royal Horse Guards as a captain on 2 January 1823.[10] On 1 August 1826 he was promoted to the rank of major of infantry on the unattached list,[11] and joined the 80th Regiment of Foot on 17 January 1828.[12] He died at Malta later that year, aged twenty-six.[7]

Charles Culling Smith and Lady Anne lived in a grace-and-favour residence at Apartment 8, Hampton Court Palace.[13]

Charles Culling Smith's brother-in-law, the Marquess Wellesley, became Foreign Secretary in the Tory government of Spencer Perceval in 1809, and Culling Smith was appointed Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on 13 December that year,[14] serving until 27 February 1812.[15] On 1 June 1812 he was one of the Esquires to his brother-in-law the Earl of Wellington at the latter's installation (by proxy) as a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath.[16]

Culling Smith served as an equerry to the Duke of York, and was present in that capacity at the funeral of Queen Charlotte on 8 December 1818,[17] while his son was there as Page of Honour.[18] On 14 August 1820 Culling Smith and his wife, son, daughter and step-daughters were among the mourners at the funeral of the Duchess of York.[19] His last service as equerry was at the Duke of York's funeral on 20 January 1827.[20]

On 13 March 1827 Culling Smith was made one of the Commissioners of the Board of Customs,[21] but he continued to attend state occasions including the funeral of the Duke of Gloucester on 11 December 1834[22] and the Duke of Wellington on 18 November 1852.[23][24]